NBA Playoffs 2007 - Western Conference

Lets Head Out West!

Western Conference 1st Round

(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (8)Golden State Warriors - Golden State Leads 1-0
~Dallas in 6
Last year this team should have won the Championship and this year they want to prove themselves as the best team in the league but they seem to not enjoy playing the Warriors as they have lost 4 games this season to them. Golden State provides matchup problems throughout their lineup with Don Nelson's smallball approach. Dallas tried to counter the approach by starting George instead of Dampier but that plan did not work out so well. The speed and athleticism of the Warriors was too much for the Mavs to handle. Dallas Coach Avery Johnson will find a way to counter his mentor's coaching taking the ultra-talented Mavs to the next step of the playoffs.

(4) Houston Rockets vs (5) Utah Jazz - Rockets Lead 2-0
~Houston in 7
The rockets make their long awaited playoff return and finally have McGrady and Yao healthy. T-Mac has plenty of pressure on him to shine in these playoffs as he has never won a playoff series throughout his brilliant/injury-prone career. Yao is slowly but surely becoming the next dominant player in the NBA with his array of hook shots, jumpers, and low-post moves he is quietly becoming a force. After these two players the rockets have no one else of note. The Jazz started out of the gate quickly this season and then became a true force to be reckoned with. Lost in the hooplah of the Mavericks and Suns the Jazz quietly won 51 games this year and won the mediocre northwest division crown. Led by Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Deron Williams, and Andrei Kirilenko the Jazz have defense and a young nucleus that is ready for perennial playoff appearances. This series will be tough but I believe at the end the Jazz will make their runs to make this a series and the Rockets win game 7 at home on a McGrady 3-pointer at the buzzer 93-92.

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (7) LA Lakers - Phoenix leads 1-0
~Phoenix in 6
No. 1 Offense vs. No 1. scorer is this series. Basically a repeat of last year's first round series as the Suns take on Kobe's Lakers. Last year the Lakers had a 3-1 series lead only to have Phoenix win the series by winning the final three games. The Lakers have a shot at winning this series based on which Kobe shows up. If its the Kobe that plays playmaker and dishes off assists and plays all-NBA defense on his man and for his team the Lakers can take the series. If its the Kobe that chucks up 35-50 shots a game en route to 50 points while his team stands around and watches then the Suns will trump the Lakers in either 4 or 5 games. I believe that the Playmaker Kobe will show up a couple times this series leading to Laker victories but it will be predominantly the shooter Kobe who puts up 40-50 points a game. The Suns also have Amare for this series unlike last year putting more pressure on laker big men inside unlike last year where the Lakers could just worry about the Suns shooters. The Suns on the wings of Steve Nash will get past the first round but it will be a hard fought and physical series.

(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Denver Nuggets - Denver leads 1-0
~San Antonio in 6
Going into the Playoffs the Nuggets were the team to beat. With the dynamic combination of Iverson and 'Melo and an excellent supporting cast of Camby, Nene, and others they looked like a championship team. The Spurs on the other hand aren't as deep or offensively skilled as the Nuggets but they do have the most fundamentally sound player in the game, Tim Duncan. Duncan can single-handedly win the series for the Spurs with a combination of rebounding, blocking shots, passing, and scoring. Though he may not be the most vocal person on the floor his energy and emotion feed into the Spurs. His supporting cast of Tony Parker, Manu, and Finley have been or are NBA All-Stars and have plenty of playoff experience and play excellent defense. The Spurs should win out in the series because Iverson has a knack of being chucker, see Kobe, and sometimes tries to take over a game by shooting the ball 30+ times instead of letting his passing skills work for him. Also Duncan, Parker, and Manu are one of the top trios of players on the same team in the NBA. Spurs will advance to the next round to play the Suns.

Western Conference Second Round

(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (4) Houston Rockets
~Dallas in 6
Yao will cause problems this series but McGrady will have a tougher time scoring this series with Josh Howard on him. Dirk will carry the load offensively for the Mavs with Jason Terry, Harris, Stackhouse, and Josh Howard supporting him. Houston has no answer for Dirk but if i was Jeff Van Gundy I would try to play McGrady on Dirk to see if he can get up there to bother that jumper. Dallas has Dampier, Diop, Dirk, and other serviceable big men to body up on Yao and be physical with him. Therefore I give the series to Dallas since Dallas is deep and has many scoring options while the Rockets operate basically with two All-Stars and a limited supporting cast.

(2) Phoenix Suns vs. (3) San Antonio Spurs
~Phoenix in 7
Two years ago this was Amare's coming out party in the playoffs. He owned Tim Duncan in every aspect of the series but the Suns still ended up losing this series. These Suns are 2 years more experienced with the playoffs and still have two-time league MVP Steve Nash. They will dominate inside again with Amare, Marion, Diaw, and Kurt Thomas while the outside will be commanded by Nash. The Spurs will struggle at times to keep up the offensive firepower that the Suns have but in the end they will fall since the Suns, like the Mavericks are too deep and have a lot of weapons on the offensive end.

Western Conference Finals

(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (2) Phoenix Suns
~Phoenix in 7
The NBA Finals are basically the Western Conference finals as no team in the east can match up with these two teams. Plenty of storylines here as the headliners are Nash vs. Dirk and the top two teams in the NBA squaring off against each other. Again last year the Mavericks defeated the Suns to knock them out of the playoffs and they won by have Josh Howard defend Steve Nash. That matchup worked but that meant there was another mismatch. The Suns also didn't have Amare in the post so Dallas won last year. The Suns will win the series this year because they have too much firepower compared to the Mavs and the Suns outside shooting will bury the Mavs in game seven of the series.

Phoenix represents the West in the NBA Finals.